When it comes to classic thrash albums, there are few that stand above the masterpiece that is Megadeth‘s Rust In Peace. From front to back, Dave Mustaine and co. wrote some absolute shredders, with “Hangar 18,” “Holy Wars… The Punishment Due,” and “Tornado of Souls” landing high on any hesher’s list of favorite songs from the Big Four.
So when I saw that Bradley Hall had not only played the entire album on guitar, but had done it in a single take and managed to play all the solos, I had to watch. Roughly 42 minutes later and all I can say is holy shit, that looks like a lot. Admittedly I’m not much of a guitar player, so maybe the shit he does isn’t that impressive, but holy shit does it look crazy difficult to me.
You may remember Hall from his beef with Yngwie Malmsteen over copyright bullshit, his heavy metal Lord of the Rings score, his attempt at writing a better “Lux Æterna” solo, or the time he played the “Master of Puppets” solo backwards. Or maybe you don’t remember him from any of that — which in that case, you should check those out.
I think it’s great that he even left in the few fuck ups he managed to do while playing. No editing done here, just a dude, his guitar, and the album playing in the background.